Doggy dress-up made easy

Founder of The Dapper Yapper Sophie felt that her adorable pooches deserved something interesting to wear, something that would express their individuality. This sparked the idea to create a line of bandanas and it just so happens they were an instant hit with fellow dog owners.

As demand for Sophie’s doggy bandanas grew, The Dapper Yapper turned into a fully-fledged business. Now there’s an entire range of awesome apparel (from bow-ties and bandanas to doggy denim jackets and tropical shirts). Keen to find out more, we caught up with Sophie for a pow-wow.

ZOOKIE: Tell us about the first items you made for your dogs Buzz and Dotty?

SOPHIE: I started out making little tiny bandanas for Dotty when she was an only a fur-baby. I was unsatisfied with the choice and poor quality of bandanas available to buy, so I made my own!

ZOOKIE: How did things progress to The Dapper Yapper business you have today?

SOPHIE: I used to be a full-time dog walker in Sydney. So all of my customers started hassling me to make their dogs bandanas, and then pushed me to start selling them online. I started out on Etsy and enjoyed learning all about selling and marketing a product online. But I quickly grew and wanted to control more of the customer's experience in the online store, so I taught myself how to make a stand alone store and spent almost a month building it.

I’ve only ever used social media to promote my products and it’s worked for me. I enjoy the social media side of things, it's where I get to connect with the customers, see the cute dogs wearing my handmade gear and make some virtual friendships! I find it extremely rewarding.

ZOOKIE: What are your best-seller items?

SOPHIE: Our best sellers are always the bandanas that I make myself. I do limited numbers of each print combination to make it a bit more exciting. I recently added a more classic, square paisley bandana and sold out in days, so I added several more colours! The most popular bandana this week is the Sushi Safari!

SOPHIE: The best custom bandanas I’ve made were part of a collaboration with Savourlife. I made charity bandanas to raise funds for the four rescue organisations they were supporting at the time. They were incredibly popular and they still pop up on social media all the time, which is great. I donated my time and the materials and it was a lot of fun! I am hoping to find some extra time in the coming months to do them again; I’ve had several requests for more! I like it because we are helping rescue pups by donating and creating awareness through Savourlife.

Another CRAZY request came from the well-known and much loved @Lifeofpikelet. It was to custom make a nappy for the two foster ducklings "Popinjay" and "Penguin". Pikelet's ma was spending all her time bent over wiping up duck poop in their home and so we measured up the tiny little ducklings and I made them little daisy overalls to catch the poop. They were hysterical!

ZOOKIE: What else can we expect from The Dapper Yapper in 2017?

SOPHIE: We have a few surprises being added to the range extremely soon! Expect designer brands that aren't readily available here in Australia and some fun and bright accessories and coats for winter that are super fun.... without giving too much away! And, of course, we will continue to bring out new bandana prints throughout the year! Plus hopefully bring out a new line of Savourlife charity bandanas.

ZOOKIE: Tell us about your favourite local doggy hangouts in Avoca

SOPHIE: We moved up here from Balmain in Sydney only four months ago; we left behind trips to the local pub with the dogs twice a week and swapped it for nearly daily romps on the beach down the road at Avoca. Most of the beaches here are doggy paradise. Dog-friendly, lots of birdies to chase and butts to sniff! I'm still adjusting to the sand in every nook and cranny of our home, but I wouldn't swap it for the world. The dogs absolutely LOVE it. It's a gorgeous way to start the day with my fur babies.